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Several hundred New Zealanders are believed to be in New York but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says more and more have been accounted for.
Mikhaila Nola is a young expatriate who worked on the 59th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Centre which was reduced to rubble in a terrorist attack on Wednesday.
Nola is haunted by the the toxic smell, the ashen showers and the desperate gamble for life.
"It's like a nightmare. You wonder when you will ever wake up...all I can see are the victims in my head," Nola said.
The young New Zealander was early to work at her law firm on Wednesday but just minutes after she reached her desk "there was this huge shudder and the whole building moved".
As a jet sliced into the building 10 floors above her, Nola grabbed her boss and fled - running down the fire escape and passing heroes she will never forget.
"Those beautiful young firefighters coming up... they had their whole lives in front of them...they were so lovely and reassuring. They can't have survived," she said.
"Once I got out, that's when it hit me. The injured people they were bringing down affected everybody I think. They had singed hair and their skin was peeling.
"I don't think anyone could have got out from above that explosion. I'm so fortunate it was above me," Nola said.
She described the scene when the building collapsed as like dominoes falling.
"This huge, mighty structure, and you think what sick evil person could do something to so many innocent people.
"You get angry and terrified."
Nola said her first instinct was to get to safety and then to call loved ones.
"You want to tell them you are OK because sure as anything they think you are dead. I thought I was nearly dead."
Other New Zealanders also experienced the mayhem and many sought safety in numbers.
Frances Wilson said they really felt the need to be together.
Simon O'Neill came to New to further his singing career but the shell-shocked young man now wants out.
"It's a terrible feeling in this town and all of us want to go somewhere else," O'Neill said.
A New Zealander in a hotel just 150 metres from the terrorist hit was left only with the clothes he escaped in.
"It was just pelting down with dust and debris - a very scary situation. I could barely see, with two of my colleagues we just ran for our life," Dale Grey said.
The chaos in Manhattan is etched forever on the minds of the officials working to account for New Zealand's ex-pats.
And they say shock is giving way to anger among Americans.
However, Wilson says that as foreigners New Zealanders do not have such a strong feeling of staying and helping the country.
The search for kiwis in New York and Washington has continued non-stop and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs hotline has received thousands of calls with information about New Zealanders thought to be in or near the disaster areas.
New Zealand's ambassador to the United Nations believes there are still a few hundred more to find.
"I understand fully the desire people have in New Zealand for information and we are desperately anxious to get certainty ourselves," Don MacKay said.
The New Zealanders have been prioritised as to how close they might have been to the disaster area. Those considered at high risk worked in the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Two of those people have been located but one has still not been contacted.
Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff says New Zealand will be "very lucky indeed if we can get away with out having further casualties".
One New Zealand fatality has been confirmed.
Lawyer Alan Beaven, 49, ended up a helpless passenger on one of the planes which was turned into a tool of terrorism.
Beaven was married with three children.
His brother Ralph said it is just unbelievable that he was one of about 200 people in the whole world being killed in a plane like that.
Help line
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has a help-line running for New Zealanders worried about family and friends.
It is 0800 872 111. However, because of the huge volume of calls the department is insisting that it is only for New Zealanders.
NZ appeal for emergency personnel
The United Fire Brigades Association of New Zealand has opened an appeal account with 100% of donations going to support the families of the emergency services personnel who perished in the New York World Trade Center tragedy. Donations can be deposited through any branch of the Bank of New Zealand into the New York Firefighters Disaster Relief Fund.
The Account details are 02 0560 0279759 - 05.
